Paint tray

ABSTRACT

A reversible paint tray designed for serving thixotropic paint from a compartment on one side and conventional oil or water base paint from a second compartment on the other side is molded in one piece of a nonwettable plastic. A multiplicity of spacedapart, generally cylindrical studs project up from the bottom of the one compartment. These studs have sharp upper edges which provide a toothed engagement with a napped surface of a paint roller so that when the roller is pulled across the bottom of the compartment, the teeth &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;dig&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; into the roller surface to complete a force couple which rotates the roller despite the opposition provided by the thixotropic paint. The other tray compartment has formed on its bottom wall the usual ribs arranged in a herringbone design and short stubs which suffice to rotate the roller immersed in the less viscous oil and water-base paint.

United States Patent [191 Vines PAINT TRAY [75] Inventor: Ellsworth Vines, Wellesley Hills,

Mass.

[73] Assignee: Baltimore Brushes, Inc., Boston,

Mass.

22 Filed: Mar. 10, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 122,835

[52] 11.8. C1 ..15/257.06 [51] Int. Cl. ..B44d 3/12 [58] Field of Search ..15/257.06, 104.92,

[451 May 1, 1973 Primary Examiner-Leon G. Machlin Att0rneyCesari & McKenna [5 7] ABSTRACT A reversible paint tray designed for serving thixotropic paint from a compartment on one side and conventional oil or water base paint from a second compartment on the other side is molded in one piece of a nonwettable plastic. A multiplicity of spaced-apart, generally cylindrical studs project up from the bottom of the one compartment. These studs have sharp upper edges which provide a toothed engagement with a napped surface of a paint roller so that when the roller is pulled across the bottom of the compartment, the teeth dig into the roller surface to complete a force couple which rotates the roller despite the opposition provided by the thixotropic paint. The other tray compartment has formed on its bottom wall the usual ribs arranged in a herringbone design and short stubs which suffice to rotate the roller immersed in the less viscous oil and water-base paint.

17 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented May 1, 1973 FIG.2

fillllll INVENTOR E LLSWORTH V I NES BY ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a paint tray. It relates more particularly to such a tray which is specially designed to serve viscous or thixotropic paint.

The paint trays with which we are concerned here are used to contain paint while the paint is being applied to a surface using a roller. These trays usually constitute a container having an inclined bottom wall. The roller is immersed in a body of paint maintained at the bottom of the inclined wall and the roller is rolled back and forth on the incline to distribute the paint over the entire surface of the roller. Following this, the roller is taken from the tray and rolled over the surface to be painted.

Generally, prior conventional trays used for this purpose have relatively long, smoothly rounded ribs arranged in a herringbone design formed in the bottom wall of the tray. These ribs form more or less a tread which help to rotate the roller as it is being rolled back and forth in the tray in order to distribute the paint over the surface of the roller. While these prior trays having this herringbone tread design work satisfactorily with oil or water-base paints which are not too viscous, they are not suitable for serving very viscous or thixotropic paint which is becoming more and more prevalant. This is because thixotropic paint is so puddinglike that when the roller is immersed in this paint and rolled, it sometimes just slides over the tread and does not turn. Consequently, the paint is transferred to the roller in the form of a gob on one side of the roller surface only. As a result, when the roller is applied to a wall to be painted, it either slides or skids across the wall surface without turning at all, or, if it does turn, it applies an excessive amount of paint to the wall during part of its revolution and practically none during the rest of its revolution. This requires the user to go over the surface to be painted several times in order to make the coat of paint uniform.

Furthermore, even if the roller is able to be rotated while it is immersed in the paint in the tray, too much paint adheres to the roller surface. Therefore, when the user tries to roll the roller over the surface to be painted, it skids and slides as described above so that the painting operation is quite tedious and time-consuming. One reason for this is that the paint is nonflowable in that it accumulates on the inclined bottom wall of the tray. Therefore, there is no relatively paintfree surface of the tray over which the roller can be rolled to remove excess paint. In other words, with conventional water or oil-base paint, the paint is thin enough so that it flows back down to the bottom of the inclined bottom wall of the tray so that by manipulating the roller over the upper portion of the inclined wall, the excess paint can be driven off. This is unlike the situation that prevails with the thixotropic paint which the present tray is designed to handle.

Prior patent trays have another drawback in that they are usually made of metal or foam material which cannot stand up during continued usage. Either the metal oxidizes or the constituents of the paint adversely affect it so that rust or other deposits build up on the tray surfaces. These are sometimes transferred to the painted surface and thus disfigure it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, this invention aims to provide a paint tray which is specially designed to handle very viscous or thixotropic paint.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray which is relatively easy and inexpensive to make.

A further object of the invention is to provide a paint tray which resists oxidation and degradation due to the paint constituents.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray which is able to handle both thixotropic and oil and water-base paints.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paint tray which is impact-resistant, rugged and durable.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

Briefly, my paint tray is molded of an impact-resistant, paint-resistant plastic. Furthermore, it is reversible, having two operative sides. One side, e.g. the upper side, of the tray is designed particularly to serve thixotropic paint or so-called dripless paint. The other side of the tray, eg the lower side, is used for conventional flowable paint of the oil or water-base variety.

The upper side of the tray is formed with a relatively deep well for holding a supply of paint and a ramp extending up out of the well with the upper end of the ramp leveling off to form a raised platform. Walls con tiguous with the well walls are formed around the sides and upper end of the ramp to contain the paint.

A multiplicity of spaced-apart studs having sharp top edges project up from the bottom of the well. These studs are arranged in staggered columns and rows and cover substantially the entire bottom wall of the well.

A similar array of studs is formed on the bottom of the ramp. Preferably, these studs are somewhat shorter than the ones in the well for reasons that will be described later.

In use, thixotropic paint is poured into the well to a depth somewhat less than the diameter of the usual cylindrical paint roller. The roller is then dipped into the well contents and drawn toward and up the ramp. The sharp edges of the staggered studs engage and even dig" into the nap on the roller surface to complete the force couple necessary to turn the roller, even though such rotation is opposed by the thixotropic paint.

Once the roller starts to rotate, shear forces are developed in the paint, with the result that the paint becomes more flowable. This, in turn, makes it easier for the roller to rotate. Thus, by the time the roller reaches the bottom of the ramp, it is already rotating to some extent. As the roller is drawn up the ramp, its underside is engaged by the studs on that surface, so that it continues to rotate, developing the necessary shear forces to maintain the paint in a flowable condition. Since the paint is already relatively flowable at this point and opposes the motion of the roller to a lesser extent than was the case when the roller was in the well, the ramp studs can be shorter than those in the well. Consequently, the stud design is less apt to be impressed or embossed on the roller surface and then be transferred to the surface being painted.

The continued penetrating engagement of the studs against the mapped underside of the roller assures that the roller will continue to turn as it proceeds across the well and up the ramp. Consequently, the paint applied initially to one side of the roller surface becomes distributed all around the roller surface. Furthermore, since the studs are spaced relatively close together, the roller actually rides along the tops of the studs so that excess paint being swept or pressed from the roller surface as it proceeds up the ramp is free to drop down into the spaces between the studs. The result is that there is no accumulation of excess paint on any portion of the paint roller. The paint in the spaces between the studs may remain there, or slowly drain back into the tray well. In any event, it is available to be picked up by the roller as the user rolls the roller up and down the ramp in accordance with the customary practice.

In other words, as the user rolls the roller on the ramp, some portions of the napped roller surface are pressed down onto the tops of the studs so that paint is squeezed from these portions. On the other hand, other portions of the roller surface not engaging the studs project down into the spaces between the studs and dip into the paint there. Thus, after only a few passes of the roller over the ramp, essentially all portions of the roller surface are squeezed and dipped in the aforesaid manner. This produces a relatively thin, uniform paint distribution over the entire napped surface of the roller. With the paint applied to it in this fashion, the roller can be rolled directly on the surface to be painted to apply a smooth, continuous and uniform coat to that surface.

After the surface is completely painted, the excess paint can be poured out of the tray well and the tray washed in the usual way to remove any residual liquid. The plastic material used in the tray is essentially nonwettable so that liquids do not adhere tenaciously to its various surfaces. Furthermore, the spaces between the studs are sufficiently large that the force of water from an ordinary tap can penetrate between the studs and flush out any paint remaining there. However, if paint deposits should build up there, they can be removed with an ordinary brush.

The underside of the present reversible tray is essentially the negative image of the top side in the sense that the wells of the upper and lower tray compartments are located at opposite ends of the tray. The well floor is studdedI-Iowever, the ramp in the bottom compartment is formed with the usual slightly raised ribs found in conventional paint trays. These suffice to distribute flowable oil or water base paints on the paint roller. The lower compartment, being formed of the same nonwettable plastic material as the upper compartment, has the same advantages vis-a-vis ease of cleaning, ability to withstand oxidation and deterioration due to the paint constituents.

Using the present tray, then, paint, and particularly thixotropic paint, can be rolled onto a surface in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of effort. Yet, the present tray is priced competitively with comparable trays used for this purpose. Furthermore, unlike conventional metal trays of this type, it can be offered for sale in a variety of attractive colors and color designs which do not fade or become defaced despite repeated use of the tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from above showing a paint tray embodying the principles of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view on a larger scale in vertical section along the longitudinal axis of the FIG. 1 tray;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view on a smaller scale showing the underside of the FIG. 1 tray; and

FIG. 4 is a scrap view illustrating the operation of the tray in conjunction with a paint roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to the drawing, the present paint tray shown generally at 10 is molded of a suitable rigid, relatively impact-resistant plastic such as high density polyethylene. This material is particularly suitable because it is relatively nonwettable and is unaffected by air, moisture or the constituents of most present day paints. Furthermore, it is a relatively inexpensive material which can be molded easily using conventional molding techniques.

Tray 10 is reversible, having a compartment shown generally at 12 in its top side for serving very viscous or thixotropic paint and another compartment shown generally at 14 in its underside for handling conventional flowable oil or water base paint. As best seen in FIG. 2, compartments 12 and 14 have essentially the same shape, being oriented relative to one another.

The tray has a pair of spaced, parallel sidewalls l6 and 18 and a pair of spaced, parallel end walls 22 and 24 which together form a generally rectangular enclosure. A divider, shown generally at 26, joined to these walls between their upper and lower edges separates the tray into the two compartments l2 and 14. Divider 26 has a horizontal section 260 integral with the end wall 22 and sidewalls 16 and 18 relatively near the lower edges of those walls. A similar section 26b is located at the opposite end of the tray integral with the end wall 24 and the sidewalls 16 and 18. Section 26b is parallel to section 26a but is positioned nearer the upper edges of the walls. A third inclined section 26b extends between the free edges of sections 26a and 26b and is integral with the two sidewalls l6 and 18 forming a ramp in the middle of the tray. Thus, with the compartment 12 being uppermost as shown in FIG. 1, the divider and walls form a relatively deep well 32 and a ramp 34 extending up out of the well which terminates in a relatively shallow receptacle 36 at the right hand end of the tray.

By the same token, if the tray is turned over (about its longitudinal axis) so that the compartment 14 is uppermost as shown in FIG. 3, it is seen that compartment 14 has a relatively deep well 42 with a ramp 44 extending up out of the well to receptacle 46. Thus, the two compartments l2 and 14 are essentially the same shape and differ only in the tread configuration to be described presently.

Tray has a pair of vertically oriented keys 48 near the opposite ends of each end wall 22 and 24. Keyways at the ends of a generally U-shaped wire bail (not shown) interfit in the two keys 48 at one end of the tray (preferably the shallow end) so that the bail can support the tray. Then the bail is engaged to the step of a ladder so that the tray is suspended horizontally with either compartment 12 or compartment 14 being uppermost.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the compartment 12 used for serving thixotropic paint has a multiplicity of relatively closely spaced cylindrical studs 52 projecting up from the bottom of well 32. The studs are formed integrally in staggered columns and rows on divider section 26a and have sharp upper edges 52a. The studs are spaced apart from one another approximately 1 inch on center and each stud is approximately one-fourth inch in diameter and relatively high, on the order of one-sixteenth inch. Typically, there are about 70 such studs in well 32.

The number of studs 52, the spacing between them in their height are selected so that their top edges 52a can engage and actually dig into the napped surface 56a of a conventional paint roller 56 being drawn across the bottom of well 32 as shown in FIG. 3. In other words,

.instead of relying on the sliding friction between roller surface 56a and the tray to develop the torque necessary to rotate the roller as is done with conventional paint trays, here there is actually a mechanical engagement between the stud edges 52a and the roller surface so that the roller cannot slide across well 32, but turns despite the resistance and opposition provided by the very viscous, pudding-like thixotropic paint 58 contained in well 32 and in which the roller 56 is immersed. Thus, as the roller 56 is drawn across well 32, it makes one or more revolutions so that all points on the roller surface are at one time or another immersed in the paint 58.

The user then draws the roller 56 up ramp 34 and out of the body of paint 58 in the well. At this point, the paint-laden surface 56a rides over the studs 60 on the ramp 34 and in receptacle 36. Studs 60 are much the same as studs 52 and they are arranged in the same way. The only difference is that they are somewhat shorter, being only about one thirty-second inch high. In any event, they extend up sufficiently high to provide the toothed engagement between their sharp edges 60a and the roller surface 56a. The'engagement between the studs 60 and the roller can be less tenacious than that provided by studs 54 in well 32 because the roller is not immersed in paint. Also, once the roller 56 starts to turn, it develops shear forces in the paint 58 which tend to make thepaint more flowable so that the paint offers less opposition to rotation of the roller.

As the roller proceeds up the studded ramp 34, the pressure of the tops of the studs 60 on portions of the roller surface moves paint around on those portions and squeezes or presses it from those surface portions so that excess paint tends to flow down and collect in the spaces 62 between studs 60. On the other hand, other portions of the napped roller surface which are not contacted by the studs at any given instant project down into the spaces 62 and are dipped or immersed in the paint 58 therein. Thus, if the user rolls the roller up and down ramp 34 a few times as is the usual practice,

all portions of the roller surface at one time or another will be pressed by the studs 60 and will be immersed in the paint containing spaces 62. The result is that paint is distributed uniformly over all parts of the roller surface 560.

Furthermore, this arrangement prevents the paint coating on the roller from becoming excessively thick. This is because there is no buildup of paint on studs 60 since the paint is free to flow or be pressed down into spaces 62 and thence flow to well 32. Thus, the amount of paint left on the roller after it is rolled up and down the ramp 34 a few times is governed essentially by the extent to which the roller surface can penetrate into the paint-filled spaces 62. This, in turn, is controlled more or less by the arrangement of studs 60, assuming that the roller surface has a standard uniform nap height.

When the paint has been completely distributed on the roller as aforesaid, the user removes it to the surface to be painted. Since the roller is covered uniformly with a given thickness of paint, when it is rolled across the surface to be painted, a uniform, continuous coat of paint is transferred to the surface. While the roller carries enough paint to cover a relatively large surface area, the amount of paint is not so excessive that it is squished around on the roller surface until it drops on the floor or runs down the roller handle. Thus, the surface can be painted with very little effort in a minimum amount of time and with minimum clean up afterwards.

Of course, the present tray can be used also to handle conventional water or oil base paint. In this event, the tray 10 is oriented so that the compartment 14 is uppermost as shown in FIG. 3. The bottom of compartment 14 has ribs 68 arranged in a herringbone design. Also, studs 70 similar to studs 60 are formed at the bottom of well 42 to provide a toothed engagement with the roller surface to assure that it will turn. This side of the tray is used in much the same way as a conventional paint tray. However, its inclusion here enables a single tray to be used with two completely different paint types which present completely different problems as far as transferring the paint from the tray to the roller is concerned. Yet the present tray is not appreciably more expensive than conventional paint trays which are only able to handle the usual flowable water or oil base paints which are readily transferred to the roller.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are-intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described.

I claim:

1. A paint tray having an imperforate ramp extending out of a well, and comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the bottom of the ramp, said studs having sharp edges around the periphery thereof at their upper ends, said edges being adapted to engage and facilitate the rotation of the surface of a paint roller being drawn thereacross.

2v A paint tray as defined in claim 1 wherein said studs are cylindrical and about one-fourth-inch in average diameter.

3. A paint tray as defined in claim 2 wherein said studs are spaced on centers about one-inch apart arranged in rows which are diagonal with respect to sidewalls of said tray.

4. The paint tray defined in claim 1 and further in cluding a relatively shallow horizontal receptacle contiguous with the upper end of the ramp.

5. The paint tray as defined in claim 1 wherein the paint tray is reversible containing a mating well and ramp on the opposite face of the tray.

6. The paint tray defined in claim 1 wherein the tray is molded of a relatively nonwettable plastic.

7. The paint tray defined in claim 6 wherein the plastic contains a pigment so that the molded tray has a uniform color.

8. The paint tray defined in claim 6 wherein the plastic comprises polyethylene.

9. A relatively rigid, impact-resistant, molded plastic, reversible, imperforate paint tray having nesting wells on opposite faces of the tray and ramps extending out of the wells, the improvement comprising an array of closely spaced studs extending generally perpendicularly from the floor of at least one of the wells and a second array of closely spaced studs projecting from the corresponding ramp, said studs having sharp upper edges about the top surface thereof to provide a toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller.

10. The paint tray defined in claim 9 wherein the studs are arranged in staggered columns and rows.

11. The paint tray defined in claim 1 wherein the studs in the well and on the ramp are generally cylindrical.

12. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the ramp and having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of the paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller rotates despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the tray.

13. The paint tray defined in claim 12 wherein the studs on the ramp are generally cylindrical.

14. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the bottom of the well, said studs having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of a paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller starts to rotate despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the well, and further including a multiplicity of closely-spaced studs projecting up from the ramp, these studs being shorter than the studs in the well and also having sharp upper edges for providing toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller being drawn up the ramp so that the roller continues to turn, thereby distributing the paint uniformly over the entire surface of the roller.

15. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicit of relatively closely-spaced cylindrical studs pro ec mg up appreciably from the bottom of the well,

said studs having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of a paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller starts to rotate despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the well, and further including a multiplicity of closely-spaced cylindrical studs projecting up from the ramp, these studs also having sharp upper edges for providing toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller being drawn up the ramp so that the roller continues to turn, thereby distributing the paint uniformly over the entire surface of the roller.

16. The tray defined in claim 15 wherein the studs in the well are on the order of one-fourth inch in diameter, one-sixteenth inch high and are spaced apart from one another approximately one inch on center.

17. The tray defined in claim 14 wherein the studs on the ramp are approximately one-half as high as those in the well. 

1. A paint tray having an imperforate ramp extending out of a well, and comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the bottom of the ramp, said studs having sharp edges around the periphery thereof at their upper ends, said edges being adapted to engage and facilitate the rotation of the surface of a paint roller being drawn thereacross.
 2. A paint tray as defined in claim 1 wherein said studs are cylindrical and about one-fourth-inch in average diameter.
 3. A paint tray as defined in claim 2 wherein said studs are spaced on centers about one-inch apart arranged in rows which are diagonal with respect to sidewalls of said tray.
 4. The paint tray defined in claim 1 and further including a relatively shallow horizontal receptacle contiguous with the upper end of the ramp.
 5. The paint tray as defined in claim 1 wherein the paint tray is reversible containing a mating well and ramp on the opposite face of the tray.
 6. The paint tray defined in claim 1 wherein the tray is molded of a relatively nonwettable plastic.
 7. The paint tray defined in claim 6 wherein the plastic contains a pigment so that the molded tray has a uniform color.
 8. The paint tray defined in claim 6 wherein the plastic comprises polyethylene.
 9. A relatively rigid, impact-resistant, molded plastic, reversible, imperforate paint tray having nesting wells on opposite faces of the tray and ramps extending out of the wells, the improvement comprising an array of closely spaced studs extending generally perpendicularly from the floor of at least one of the wells and a second array of closely spaced studs projecting from the corresponding ramp, said studs having sharp upper edges about the top surface thereof to provide a toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller.
 10. The paint tray defined in claim 9 wherein the studs are arranged in staggered columns and rows.
 11. The paint tray defined in claim 1 wherein the studs in the well and on the ramp are generally cylindrical.
 12. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the ramp and having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of the paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller rotates despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the tray.
 13. The paint tray defined in clAim 12 wherein the studs on the ramp are generally cylindrical.
 14. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced studs projecting up appreciably from the bottom of the well, said studs having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of a paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller starts to rotate despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the well, and further including a multiplicity of closely-spaced studs projecting up from the ramp, these studs being shorter than the studs in the well and also having sharp upper edges for providing toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller being drawn up the ramp so that the roller continues to turn, thereby distributing the paint uniformly over the entire surface of the roller.
 15. A paint tray having a well and a ramp extending up out of the well, the improvement comprising a multiplicity of relatively closely-spaced cylindrical studs projecting up appreciably from the bottom of the well, said studs having sharp edges at their upper ends which enable them to obtain a toothed engagement with the surface of a paint roller which is drawn across the studs so that the roller starts to rotate despite the opposition provided by thixotropic paint contained in the well, and further including a multiplicity of closely-spaced cylindrical studs projecting up from the ramp, these studs also having sharp upper edges for providing toothed engagement with the surface of a conventional paint roller being drawn up the ramp so that the roller continues to turn, thereby distributing the paint uniformly over the entire surface of the roller.
 16. The tray defined in claim 15 wherein the studs in the well are on the order of one-fourth inch in diameter, one-sixteenth inch high and are spaced apart from one another approximately one inch on center.
 17. The tray defined in claim 14 wherein the studs on the ramp are approximately one-half as high as those in the well. 